Swampscott may appoint interim town administrator

SWAMPSCOTT – Selectmen Wednesday will discuss and may appoint an interim town administrator after current Town Administrator Andrew Maylor leaves in December.”I would like an interim town administrator in place before (Maylor) goes, Selectman Chair Matthew Strauss said. “I decided that it was something that we should put on the agenda because it has to be done – this gives us two meetings in November to discuss and vote.”Town Administrator Andrew Maylor announced in Oct. that he was resigning effective Dec. 15 in order to accept a position as Town Manager in North Andover. A search committee is currently being formed to seek and screen Maylor’s replacement, but that person will not be selected in time to take over in December, according to the timeline of the process outlined in the Town Charter. Also on Wednesday, Strauss said the selectmen will make their appointment to the five-member search committee. The Finance Committee and the School Committee have announced that they will be represented by Cindy Merkle and Neil Bernstein, respectively, on the committee, and Town Moderator Joe Markarian will appoint two Town Meeting members to complete the committee.Meanwhile, the Town Charter allows the town to appoint an interim town administrator for up to three months, with a possible three-month extension.Several selectmen said that current Assistant Town Manager and Town Accountant Dave Castellarin would be a top candidate for the position.”I see no reason why Castellarin would not be the leading candidate,” Strauss said. He’s the assistant town administrator and fills in when (Maylor) goes on vacation. He’s my personal choice.”Selectman Richard Malagrifa said he would support Castellarin’s nomination.Selectman David Van Dam said that Castellarin was certainly in the running, but that he had not yet made a decision as to the appointment as he did not know whether other candidates might be available for the position. He noted, however, that Castellarin had indicated that he would not apply for the soon-to-be-vacant position, which Van Dam believed made him a strong candidate for the interim role.”Having somebody that’s not a candidate is best, in my opinion,” Van Dam said. “Then you don’t have people outside the town saying, ?Oh well, the interim is applying as well, I might not apply. The interim is exactly that, the interim.”Selectman Jill Sullivan said she had no comment at this time, and Selectman Barry Greenfield could not be reached for comment.Castellarin confirmed that he was not applying for the full-time position and would not have a problem filling the interim role. But he said he didn’t know if he would be offered the position.Cyrus Moulton can be reached at [email protected].